Of Hair and Death
by kamikaze2007
Summary: Neji was always the calm one, but how will he react when he sees the death of his favorite team mate?  NejiTen one-shot for Siggy Chan.


**A/N: Hey! It's me, Kamikaze 2007 and here is my new one-shot Signel-Chan. Yeah, she requested a NejiTen story months ago and I just wrote it out in a hurry last night at midnight, so yeah... Better late than never, huh? Anyway, enjoy!**

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Standing in Tsunade's office, I never thought that this mission would change my life. Me and my team were standing in front of Lady Tsunade listening to the mission she was issuing. My team mates Tenten and Lee along with our sensei Gai were listening intently, while I caught myself staring absent-mindedly at Tenten's hair buns. It reminded me of a conversation we had the day before. She didn't like her hair being in buns but she had to keep it like that or her hair would get in her way while fighting. I said her hair looked good in buns, but of course she didn't believe me. Her excuse for this was "You've never seen my hair down!" Anyway, once the mission was assigned, we met at the village gate and set out. Lee and Gai were being idiots as usual while me and Tenten fell behind. Yup, it was starting out just like a regular mission. "Hey, ready for this?" Tenten asked me.

"Huh? Oh, um, yeah." I replied stupidly, still thinking about the hair conversation.

"You're being...quiet." Tenten noted. "Er, more than usual."

"Sorry, I was just thinking." I said in the least monotonous tone I could muster. It probably still sounded monotonous...

"Okay then. So, pop quiz!" Tenten said bouncing. "What are we supposed to be doing on this mission?"

"Oh, um, I...don't remember." I said feeling ashamed that I hadn't listened.

"Huh, whatever you were thinking about must have been really important." Tenten nodded. You see, whenever I get to thinking about anything really important, I tend to tune out the rest of the world. But I didn't think Tenten was THAT important. Or, er, her hair buns weren't important, that's what I meant...Oh, moving on! We weren't more than twenty minutes out of the village when I heard a rustling in the bushes. I instantly activated my Byakugan and looked around. Nothing. I turned it off and continued walking. Gai seemed to notice something too, for he was looking around suspiciously. He kept his hand near his shuriken pouch as did I. I wondered if the wind blew the bush, which would explain my inability to see anything suspicious with my Byakugan, but life as a ninja is never that easy.

Suddenly, something blocked the sun. We looked up at a ninja in the air blocking the sun. I couldn't make out his shadowy features, but his headband shone with a symbol I'd never seen before. He came down and slashed at Lee who promptly dodged. Gai and I threw kunai at him, which he knocked away with swords who's hilts were hidden in his sleeves. Tenten was preparing her weapon scroll, which he took advantage of. The ninja ran at her and slashed her scroll in half. "Hey!" She yelled before he slashed. It would have cut her face in half in she hadn't leaned back and gave him a swift kick to the crotch. He crumpled to the ground and I ran at him, deciding to strike. Before my palm could connect with his head, he jumped and I ended up high-five-ing the ground. He slashed at my arm and left a good sized gash in it. I grabbed my arm and could feel the warm red liquid flowing out of the wound. Tenten gasped as he kicked me to the nearest tree. I would have been knocked out, but I could still see the battle for some reason. Tenten had summoned her own sword and started dueling the ninja.

Now that he wasn't shaded, I could see his features. He had a broken nose and really shaggy jet black hair. His smile was wicked, which was a sure giveaway he was hiding something. Then I saw it. Tenten was fighting a clone! He must have made a clone when everyone's attention was on my arm wound. The real ninja was sneaking up behind Tenten with a huge sword. One slash with that thing and he could have taken her head off. Lee and Gai tried to stop him, but he knocked them out of the way. I didn't see them for the rest of the battle after that. The real ninja raised his sword and, with a struggle, I yelled a warning to Tenten. It was something smart like "Uuuuuuah!"

She looked back and saw the real ninja. She jumped and allowed him to slash into his clone, which evaporated on the spot. He jumped up after her and they started dueling in the trees. I couldn't see anything behind the foliage and it hadn't occurred to me to activate the Byakugan, so I had to listen to the battle. I heard multiple clangs and the unmistakable sound of blade connecting with flesh. The ninja grunted and the clanging resumed, only quicker. Tenten must have lost her footing, because she screamed and fell out of the tree. She managed to land on her feet while the ninja jumped down and slashed at her head. Using her swan-like grace, she spun out of the swords way, but the blade somehow managed to cut the fabric (never knew what those were called) holding her hair in buns. Tenten's hair cascaded off her head like a brunette waterfall. I was blown away by the smoothness of her hair, despite always being up. She frowned as her waist-length hair unraveled as if that were the worst possible thing that could happen right now.

Then, as the ninja got up, she made the mistake of looking at me.

She saw my widened eyes and didn't realize I was staring at her hair, so she thought something was wrong. She looked at me in confusion while the ninja took his chance and charged.

"Tenten, NO!" I yelled. She turned to the ninja and tried to grab his hilt, but he was too close. I watched in terror as his blade went straight through Tenten. She coughed blood as she looked at her hands, staining red, as they grabbed the blade of the ninja's sword. He smirked and pulled the sword out of Tenten, sending blood flying. I suddenly found strength and got up. "NOOOOOO!" I bellowed as I ran at the ninja. I punched his gut with so much chakra and force he went flying into the darkness of the forest. I turned towards Tenten as she fell into my arms. I held her for a moment and felt how smooth and silky her hair was. Then she coughed and I remembered the situation. I lay her down on her back and saw the wound. Her stomach had been pierced by the sword. That was one of the worst places to get stabbed. She smiled at me, which just made me feel worse.

"Neji..." She said weakly, "You finally get to see my hair down, lucky duck." She chuckled.

"This is no time for joking, Tenten!" I scolded. "We need to get you back to the village now! Tsunade will get you healed up."

"No, Neji." Tenten said, her voice getting weaker with every word. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to die here."

"But, no, you can't!" I insisted." I-"

"Neji." Tenten said.

"What?"

"Shut up." Tenten smiled and with a struggle, leaned forward and kissed me. When she was done, she lay her head back down. "Good bye, Neji..." She closed her eyes and stopped breathing. I stood up slowly. With my eyes shut tight, I yelled into the sky as loudly as I could.

When I opened my eyes, I was in my bed, panting and sweating heavily. I heard a knock at my door. "Uh, yes?"

"Neji!" Lee said. "We have a summons from Lady Tsunade. Get out to her office as quickly as possible!"

"Uh, okay." I said walking to the door. I opened it as Lee was about to leave. "Have you told Tenten yet?"

"No, but-"

"I'll do it." I told him. I said it was to give him a little relief, because then he wouldn't have to run halfway across the village twice, but I only really wanted to see Tenten. I was pretty shaken up from the dream, and seeing her alive would have soothed me. When I reached her house, I knocked on the door quickly.

"Who is it?" Her voice sang from outside.

"It's Neji." I answered promptly.

"Okay, come in, I'm decent." I walked in and there she was, full ninja gear, except for one thing. I saw Tenten with her hair down for the first time ever. Not counting the dream of course. "Well, you finally get to see my hair down, lucky duck!" She said. I mentally winced at that, remembering her bloody mouth saying that exact thing in my dream. "So, what do you want?" She asked, combing her long smooth hair.

"Um, Tsunade wants us to report to her." I managed while admiring her hair.

"Really? Okay then." She started putting her hair up in their usual buns. "Well, as soon as I get this second bun up, we'll be going."

"Okay." I said. Withing five minutes, we were in Tsunade's office. Everyone was listening intently to the mission, while I caught myself staring absent-mindedly at Tenten's hair buns again. I thought about the dream and started to have a deja vu feeling. Once the mission was assigned, we set out from the village gate again.

"Ready for this?" Tenten asked me.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." I replied just as stupidly as I had in my dream.

"You're being...quiet." Tenten noted. "Er, more than usual."

I winced again, mentally, remembering the dream being just like this. Exact weather, exact antics from Lee and Gai sensei. Uh, oh. We weren't more than twenty minutes out of the village when I heard a rustling in the bushes just like the night before. Crap. I threw a kunai at the bushes and it hit the tree bark.

"You mustn't go throwing your kunai blindly, Neji." Gai chidded. "They are like your youth, and must be treasured!"

"Such wise words, sensei!" Lee yelled. Then it happened.

Suddenly, something blocked the sun. We looked up at a ninja in the air blocking the sun. I couldn't make out his shadowy features, but his headband shone with a symbol I'd never seen before. He was the _exact _ninja from my dream! He slashed at Lee, who dodged again, while me and Gai threw kunai promptly. As he blocked them, I realized I had to do something different if I wanted things to end without anyone dieing. I wasn't gonna let Tenten get hurt! As he went to cut Tenten's scroll, I intercepted and clashed with him kunai to sword. Tenten jumped over me and threw three kunai which hit their targets. One in each shoulder and one in his leg. He wailed in pain as Tenten landed behind him. They stood back to back for a split second before he swung his sword at Tenten. It tore a cut into her upper back and she screamed in pain. She fell to her knees and the ninja with jet black hair stood above her getting ready for the final blow.

"NO!" I yelled. I hit the small of his back so precisely, he crumpled to the ground. I stole his swords from his sleeves and pointed them both at his stomach; the scene of Tenten's death in my dream. "No one hurts my friends!" I yelled at him. Gai and Lee simply watched in awe. I said friends, but I meant Tenten. Anyway, I swiftly ended his life with a quick stab into his stomach.

We patched up Tenten quickly. It wasn't a very deep cut and we made double (triple for me) sure it wasn't poisoned before just putting some bandage on it. As we finished the mission, I thought about the day's events and the dream. Up until a year ago, I was sure I could see the future with my Byakugan. Naruto convinced me otherwise, but this bugged me. I knew my Byakugan had showed me the future as a warning to watch out today. But, why Tenten's fate, and no body else's? I had never had a dream of the future before that or after that, why had it showed me Tenten? I didn't know why, but I was glad it did. That ninja might have been after anything we might have had, even something vital to the survival of the village, but I was just glad he hadn't killed Tenten. When we arrived at the village, Gai had given us some time for a break, so Tenten and I decided to have lunch in front of the Ninja academy. While we were eating, Tenten spoke to me.

"Hey Neji," She said.

"Yeah?"

"You...you saved my life, didn't you?" She asked.

I immediately felt my face heat up. "Um, yeah, it was no problem really."

"Ha! Oh Neji, always so modest." Tenten laughed. She kissed me on the cheek and we got up, ready to go to Tsunade's office for a new mission. Lee met us halfway there.

"Hey guys!" He said.

"Hey Lee." Tenten greeted. I repeated and Lee started talking.

"Tenten," He said.

"Hm?" Tenten replied.

"Your hair, do you think I can see it out of a bun?" Lee asked.

Tenten considered it. "Hmmmmm, no." Then she sped up her pace.

"Why not?" Lee whined.

"Because," She looked back, "I only show that to people special to me." She winked at me and ran up ahead of us to Tsunade's office.

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**A/N: There you have it, my first ever romantic one-shot. Be near a bomb shelter, 'cuz the world may end because of that. Just saying. Personally? I didn't like it. I think I could have done better, but feel free to disagree with me. Please review and I'll see ya later! **


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